Back from the Zuiderdam!

[magandab]

We got back yesterday and now that I am semi (almost) coherent, I want to report on some things while they are still in my ever failing memory!

 

Cabin:

 

We had SB cabin, 6093. Everything worked fine though I have to say that our AC was a bit too aggressive and we actually had to turn it to the heat side most afternoons then back to cooler for sleeping. The toilet flushed every time, but I did find that it took a special way of pressing the flush bar. You couldn't just push it with one finger, it took two thumbs, equally spaced, and then, whoosh!

 

This cabin is right next to a mid-ship glass elevator, so that eliminated our chance to sunbathe nude on our balcony. Okay, that was never going to happen. But it was not a problem at all. We did hear elevator "dings" now and then, but never at night (the beds are on the opposite wall. The only downside to the cabin could be that being the first cabin in that hallway, there is a metal threshold where the hall and elevator area meet, so we heard every cart as it was pushed over it, with a clinking of dishes. Nothing that disturbed us, but if that bit of noise will bother you, don't pick the first cabin off the center area of the ship.

 

We did have one weird plumbing issue for the first half of the cruise. We had two temperatures of water in our cabin, and others told me they had the same, hot and hotter. We never reported it as it really didn't bother us (I can't brush my teeth in cold water anyway) and it resolved about halfway through.

 

Room Steward:

 

This was a surprise, but we never met our steward until Day 4, and then only because we needed another laundry bag and had to ask the Neptune concierge to have one sent. We told her we had not yet met our steward and she obviously called him and sent him over. She was surprised to hear that we hadn't seen him. He was very nice, happy and we didn't see him again until the last day. The room was cleaned, towels replaced, menus delivered, but we felt like our room was being taken care of by Dobby the House Elf.

 

Food:

 

Overall very very good. The only items we ordered that didn't please us were two different lamb dishes in the MDR that were very very fatty. The meat was good, but there wasn't much of it there.

 

We ate in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner twice, plus Le Cirque, and one lunch. We would consider having even more dinners there on future cruises, it was THAT good. The Le Cirque dinner was fantastic. Thanks to anyone and everyone who has recommended Chicken Under a Brick over the years. WOW. The first night there I had the lamb skewers and they were not flamed tableside. Odd was that one of the chunks of meat on my plate was beef, not lamb. Not a problem as it let me know I really needed to have beef the next time. I did see the Caesar salad being prepared tableside and my baked Alaska was flamed tableside as well.

 

We had one dinner in the Canaletto with the new menu. I've always liked the Canaletto but this was by far the best meal I've had there. Service was excellent and the food was IMHO amazingly good.

 

Entertainment:

 

Meh. We went to one show in the Vista, a solo violinist. He was outstanding. We skipped BB King as it was just too loud for us, when we walked by the Queen's Lounge. The Adagio Duo left a bit to be desired, especially compared with David and Atilla last year on the O. The pianist was very good, the violinist not great. The biggest problem is they made their own rules and took extra long breaks and if there was nobody sitting there when they got back from a break, they'd leave again instead of starting to play.

 

Excursions:

 

We booked our excursions through HAL and were extremely pleased. If you get the chance, check out the Butterfly Farm on Aruba and do the Aerial Tram through the Rainforest in Costa Rica. That latter one is one of the best excursions I've ever been on.

 

If you do a partial transit in the future, I can tell you what worked out for us, totally by accident. We stayed on the ship and since we were supposed to go back through at 1, I made a PG reservation for lunch at 12. Well, we actually started back at about 11:30. We had a table by the window and got the best view imaginable of the inside of the canal. Literally the walls were less than an arm's length away. Best seats in the house. After we were through, we sat on our balcony watching a major HUGE thunderstorm, feeling very glad that we had stayed onboard.

 

This and that:

 

While relaxing in the NL early on, we did hear three complaints being made about both AC and plumbing. Also, there is a staff member aboard who we met previously and we spent some time with this person (no, I will not say who it is). It was confirmed to us that on the previous, 10-day cruise there were 140 or 150 (I can't remember which) cabins with AC issues. This person confirmed personal experience with entering one of those cabins.

 

We loved Captain Turner and his daily noon report on weather, history, etc. We also enjoyed his Q/A hour during one of our sea days.

 

Anything I haven't touched on that you wonder about, let me know. If I can, I'll answer your questions.

 

We are very glad that we did not cancel this cruise and would give it at least a 4.7/5 score. We came away refreshed, relaxed, and happier.

Edited December 23, 2013 by magandab

[OVgirl]

Thank you for posting your review so promptly after coming back. We all know that you must be going through withdrawal and appreciate that you have taken the time to post.

[TracieABD]

Thank you! We leave in 4 days your review is definitely wonderful news!

[madera1]

Thanks for reporting back about your recent cruise.

[mamaofami]

. Thank you for the review. Glad you had a good cruise.

[magandab]

I almost forgot. People have asked about holiday decorations. They were done during this cruise and were/are amazing. They went up over a couple of days, the 16th and 17th. I took photos of most of them and will share those once they are loaded and edited.

[bumperoo]

Refreshed, relaxed and happier -- the kind of words I love to see in a review! Welcome home and thanks for taking the time to post your review!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report, we also have had Doby as room steward!

[IRL_Joanie]

Glad you did not cancel/change ships and enjoyed my ship:) LOL, I know she is not "Mine" but I like to think of her as mine:)

 

Welcome back to HomeDam:)

 

Joanie

Edited December 23, 2013 by IRL_Joanie

[startwin]

Thanks for a great report. Chris Turner is one of my favourite captains on HAL. We've done both the excursions you mentioned - excellent. I maintain that the food in the MDR on the Zuiderdam is the best and even beats out the PG much of the time. Though I do love the PG luncheon menu. My next cruise on the Z is in a SY, so unfortunately no Neptune Lounge for me, but last cruise we found this one of the best things about the ship! (And breakfast in the PG, of course:D)

 

The Zuiderdam continues to be plagued by a/c and plumbing issues, and I wonder if it will ever be resolved. There seems to be not much improvement since my April 2012 cruise, which is discouraging. But in spite of that, I love the ship and crew, and will be on her again in a few months. I just hope I don't have a repeat of the last repositioning where I had a non-functioning toilet much of the 22 days.:( I will try your method of two thumbs equal distance apart. Given recent reports, however, this will be my last Zuiderdam cruise - I don't want to gamble on spending much money and getting a cabin with a/c or plumbing issues

Edited December 23, 2013 by startwin

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

 

Will be interested to see your photos of the decorations.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your recent Zuiderdam cruise.

[Keith1010]

Welcome home and thank you for taking the time to write and share your review.

 

Keith

[Thebes]

Thanks for your prompt review. WB :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and didn't experience any major problems.

[RJ2002]

Thanks for your report on the Zuiderdam. Glad you had a great cruise with no major issues. Sorry to see that there are still apparently issues in some parts of the ship though. Our cabin for our April sailing is about 10 cabins down the corridor from yours. Hopefully we will have good luck as you did!

[QShip]

Hi, Amy. Enjoyed meeting you and your Mom. We were sorry we did not see you toward the end of the cruise.

 

We were in 7134 (VA) at the stern of the ship and had no problems with either our plumbing or AC. (There was one broken cane on one of the veranda chairs though!) However, the rooms across the hall did have plumbing problems (apparently a leak in a vacuum line), and one room around the corner (stern veranda) found water in their room upon embarkation. Never did find out why.

 

On 4-5 occasions during the cruise found public bathrooms (men's) with inoperative toilets. From comments it was also the case in women's.

 

At the beginning of the cruise some folks were complaining about their AC, but it seemed to be fixed by the end of the cruise.

 

This was our first (test) cruise on HAL, and we would go again depending upon itinerary, though it probably would not be our first choice.

 

Agree with the comments about the Captain, an interesting and friendly man. Never did find out why we were invited to his cocktail party though.

 

All in all an enjoyable cruise, particularly Cartegena, the Canal and Puerta Limon. Snorkeling on the wrecked ship in Aruba was also well worth the cost. It is only about 25-35 feet beneath you, and very visible.

 

We did learn, however, that we do not really enjoy consecutive sea days. (Part of the test.) Will factor that into our next cruise choice.

[CORealtor]

Thanks, Amy, for your review! I'm glad you had no major issues. We will be on that cruise on February 3, and can't wait!

 

Deb

[solocanadian]

I almost forgot. People have asked about holiday decorations. They were done during this cruise and were/are amazing. They went up over a couple of days, the 16th and 17th. I took photos of most of them and will share those once they are loaded and edited.

 

Thank you for posting. Looking forward to your photos. Seasons Greetings to you!

[magandab]

Hi, Amy. Enjoyed meeting you and your Mom. We were sorry we did not see you toward the end of the cruise.

 

We were in 7134 (VA) at the stern of the ship and had no problems with either our plumbing or AC. (There was one broken cane on one of the veranda chairs though!) However, the rooms across the hall did have plumbing problems (apparently a leak in a vacuum line), and one room around the corner (stern veranda) found water in their room upon embarkation. Never did find out why.

 

On 4-5 occasions during the cruise found public bathrooms (men's) with inoperative toilets. From comments it was also the case in women's.

 

At the beginning of the cruise some folks were complaining about their AC, but it seemed to be fixed by the end of the cruise.

 

This was our first (test) cruise on HAL, and we would go again depending upon itinerary, though it probably would not be our first choice.

 

Agree with the comments about the Captain, an interesting and friendly man. Never did find out why we were invited to his cocktail party though.

 

All in all an enjoyable cruise, particularly Cartegena, the Canal and Puerta Limon. Snorkeling on the wrecked ship in Aruba was also well worth the cost. It is only about 25-35 feet beneath you, and very visible.

 

We did learn, however, that we do not really enjoy consecutive sea days. (Part of the test.) Will factor that into our next cruise choice.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

I have to share this really odd coincidence. Mike (QShip) put together our Meet and Greet. Then he posted about their difficulties in getting to the cruise due to all the cancellations in Dallas. We went to dinner on the first night, open seating. A very nice gentleman started telling us about his flight problems. It all clicked and I asked if he was on Cruise Critic - yes. I asked if he was the one who put our gathering together - yes. Yep, it was Mike.